ASU men's basketball outsized in 76-70 loss at Stanford

Senior center Jordan Bachynski jumps to recover an unsucessful lay up from Jahii Carson at a game against Colorado on Jan. 25. The Sun Devils lost against Stanford on Feb. 1, 76-70. (Photo by Mario Mendez)

For the first time since moving sophomore Eric Jacobsen to the starting lineup at power forward, the ASU men’s basketball team didn’t have the edge in the frontcourt.

Stanford outrebounded ASU, 40-32, and grabbed 15 offensive boards. Even though they shot 39 percent from the field the entire game, the Cardinal made up for it with their length and forced ASU to pick up a high number of fouls early, allowing Stanford to take 29 free throws (making 22).

Stanford’s two elite forwards shined as usual. Sophomore forward Dwight Powell had a monster game for the Cardinal, finishing with 28 points, five assists and five rebounds. Senior forward Josh Huestis had nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Sophomore point guard Chasson Randle also added 21 points from the backcourt.

The game was tight all throughout the first half as ASU went into the locker room with a 33-32 lead, but Stanford charged out with a 20-6 run to start the second half. ASU went cold in the second half and shot 33 percent from the field after shooting 50 percent in the first half.

The Cardinal led by as much as 12 points, but the Sun Devils slowly cut away the deficit in the bottom of the second half. Despite dealing with foul trouble, ASU redshirt sophomore point guard Jahii Carson scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half.

After forcing overtime against California on Wednesday, senior guard Jermaine Marshall hit another clutch 3-pointer with 1:06 left to cut ASU’s deficit to three points. That was the closest the Sun Devils got in their comeback effort, though, as Stanford kept going to the free-throw line while ASU couldn’t score.

Marshall ended the game with 22 points, but he and Carson didn’t get much help. The next leading scorer was senior forward Shaquielle McKissic with eight points, followed by senior center Jordan Bachynski with seven.

ASU junior forward Jonathan Gilling, who had been on a hot streak the past three games, shot 0-for-5 from the 3-point line and fouled out of the game.

The Sun Devils return home next weekend as they host Oregon State next Thursday and Oregon on Feb. 8.

Reach the reporter at jnacion@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Josh_Nacion